The Guangdong Information Office held a press conference on July 13 to announce that new emergency response regulations were implemented at the beginning of this month across the province.
The new regulations allow all major incidents to be reported on by journalists. Officials are asked to cooperate with media and all municipal-level governments and above are asked to set-up PR teams and spokespeople. In case of an incident, the team is required to hold a press conference within 4 hours after the event occurred.
Guangdong claims to be leading the way on emergency response measures. Recently, China's first association for emergency management was established in Guangdong, creating a database of experts in every field. Thanks to this system, the entire pan Pearl River Delta (including 9 provinces) can co-operate immediately.
(By Jessie Huang, David Keyton)
